Star Maiden started out as Star Woman. Eventually, that character turned into Spy Gal (as explained in the commentary for episode 6, I think). Still, the initial idea for Star Woman wouldn’t let go. I knew I wanted a Wonder Woman type.

When it came time to actually introduce her, I had the excellent graphic novel “Superman: Red Son” on the brain. In that book, an older, somewhat deranged version of Wonder Woman appears. And she has white, crinkly hair.

Dementia was a topic I wanted to tackle in SuperFogeys from the very beginning. You can see that with Spy Gal’s first appearance. I abandoned the idea then because I wasn’t sure how to really proceed with it.

By Chapter 3 I knew what I wanted to do. The full extent and terms of Star Maiden’s dementia will be revealed in due time, but you can assume that since this is the SuperFogeys, what is going on with her is not exactly conventional.

My worst fear is that some would be offended by Star Maiden’s portrayal. I don’t ever want her to be the butt of a joke. She’s clueless, a little ditzy. My own grandmother died from Alzheimer’s, so the last thing I’d want is for someone to be offended.

As I write this I’ve just finished up Chapter 4. So far so good. People seem to really like her.

What I eventually hope to do with the character is present the tragedy of dementia in an interesting way. That’s a ways off, but it’s coming.